One item we never realized would have been a huge issue: a short commute.

I’ve never lived more than 5 minutes from all my amenities. So taking sometimes up to 2 hours to get to where I needed to be required a little creative thinking.

Enter: podcasts & audiobooks.

I swear by them now. Music is great and all but nothing gets me more fired up and in the zone in the morning than a good podcast.

Whether you’re commuting or doing cardio, you can let your body do what it’s doing and your mind can learn and grow.

I’ve been a “podcast connoisseur” for a few years now, but at a point I got so overwhelmed by so much competing and different advice. So I’ve narrowed down the options to a nice MVP (Most Valuable Podcasts) list that you can check out.

If you’re interested, let me know if you want me to do a follow up email on my audiobook recommendations.

So what makes an amazing podcast? 2 things:

Consistent Value

Some podcasters have really attractive episode titles but don’t actually deliver much value when you listen. I’ve found that it’s better to move on to a different podcast entirely, instead of holding out till the one day their stuff will be valuable.

The podcasts in my list always give me IMMENSE value every time I listen to a new episode, and I often go back and re-listen to episodes and take notes.

Resonance

The podcast and podcaster you subscribe to should have a style/attitude/delivery that resonates with you. There are thousands of podcasts out there, there is bound to be a few that you will feel good listening to. If you don’t like when the podcaster interrupts his guest, you probably won’t like “The Ask GaryVee Show” or “The James Altucher Show”.

My style of podcasts are people who aren’t 100% focused on tactics and “How to’s” for online business. I want to learn from people in different industries and deep stories about mistakes and redemption, and I put a lot of emphasis on motivation.

Here are my picks. Give them a try and narrow down your own style from there: